Columbia Bartending School
Posted in Reviews on February 5th, 2010 by nathan – 3 Comments
Yesterday was the first class of my free Mixology course. The class is divided into two parts: one hour of teaching and one hour of mixing/drinking. The hour of teaching was all about safety and being a good bartender, and the hour of mixing was about Highballs, aka colorful drinks with not so much alcohol content.
Easily the most important thing I learned was how to pour properly. Using this skill, I made a Rum & Coke (the least colorful drink on the list), a Pearl Harbor (Vodka, Melon Liqueur, and Pineapple Juice), and a Scarlet O’Hara (SoCo and Cranberry Juice). Neither of the last two drinks were very good, but I suppose people order that kind of junk.
Here’s what I’ll say about the course: It’s a lot of fun and very laid back, but had I actually paid two hundred dollars to be in it, I’d probably be upset. The relaxed nature is nice, but had I put good money in, I wouldn’t want that relaxed nature.
One woman seemed to feel the same way. In the question and answers section, she very bluntly asked the people in charge, “what qualifies you to teach this class?” She tried to laugh it off when it was obvious that she was being rude, but nonetheless, the question was out.
The entire Columbia Bartending Agency is student-run, so while they were in fact students, they had gone through the same class and had since tended bar all over the US (and in England), and actually were qualified enough to make the woman look like a fool.
Anyway, I have four more classes, in which I’ll learn all kinds of other things regarding all kinds of other drinks, hopefully some a little more my taste than a Sloe Comfortable Screw (Sloe Gin, SoCo, Vodka, OJ). Evviva!